Paul McCallum will be back for another season — his 23rd — in the Canadian Football League in 2015, as the B.C. Lions announced today that a pair of veterans will be returning to the den.
The 45-year-old kicker will be joined by defensive back Ryan Phillips, who will get to add to his 180 consecutive appearances for the Leos since joining the team in 2005 as a free agent.
“Both Paul and Ryan remain ... Read More …

The B.C. Lions announced today that former Grey Cup-winning quarterback and NFL pivot Jeff Garcia will be the keynote speaker at the team’s annual Orange Helmet Awards dinner.
“Jeff enjoyed a long and successful football career in both leagues and has an amazing story to tell,” Leos director of community relations Jamie Taras said in a statement. “We have been very fortunate with the quality of speakers that have appeared at previous OHA’s and Jeff ... Read More …

B.C. Lions quarterback Travis Lulay says he’s feeling stronger and is raring to get going when the Canadian Football League team opens training camp at the end of May.
Lulay, who started only 12 games in the past two seasons due to injuries to his throwing shoulder, took his wife and kids on a brief two-week holiday to visit family in Oregon, but has since been focused on his off-season workouts and has his fingers ... Read More …

Farhan Lalji became devoted to football on Christmas Day — and thousands of New Westminster boys are grateful.
As one of the most popular sports journalists in Canada, as well as the longtime head coach of the New Westminster Secondary School’s Hyacks football team, Lalji remembers how left out he felt on Christmas Day as a youngster.
Arriving in Canada from Tanzania when he was four, the boy who would later go on to become ... Read More …

Come on Canadian Football League, you big tease, tell us who you have lined up for halftime entertainment at the Grey Cup.
The big game will be played under the big top at BC Place Stadium on Nov. 30. It’ll either be a battle between the best team in the west and the best team from the east — or, just as likely, a game featuring the best team from the west and second worst ... Read More …

The B.C. Lions’ “Be More Than a Bystander” campaign against domestic violence has never been more relevant or important than right now.
The Canadian Football League team has released the latest round of Be More Than a Bystander videos while the National Football League is reeling in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal. Rice was suspended indefinitely and released by the Baltimore Ravens this week after video emerged of him knocking ... Read More …

TUESDAY
Winnipeg at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. PT, TSN
The odd Tuesday scheduling, a result of the Argos’ second-class status at Rogers Centre, means that the Blue Bombers will be playing their third game in 13 days. Winnipeg will have had just a single practice since its 23-17 loss at home to Saskatchewan last Thursday. Players love to play the games and only tolerate practice, but the lack of prep time should level the playing field ... Read More …

The B.C. Lions sit last in the Canadian Football League’s West Division with a 2-3 record. They also sit last in average attendance among the league’s five western teams.
Now, we can cut the Leos some slack for their less than stellar start seeing that they have been without the services of star quarterback Travis Lulay, who started the season on the six-game injured list after undergoing off-season shoulder surgery.
Lulay is expected to be ... Read More …

Angus Reid will be the centre of attention once again at BC Place Stadium.
The B.C. Lions will pay tribute to their longtime centre by recognizing him as the club’s honourary captain for Saturday’s 3 p.m. home opener against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Reid officially retired in March ending a 13-season CFL career in which he won two Grey Cups (2006, 2011), was a three-time West Division All-Star (2004, 2011, 2012) and 2011 All-Canadian.
Last week, ... Read More …

Good morning. Expect some warm temperatures mixed with scattered showers today. Right now it’s a pleasant 20 degrees in Vancouver.
Here are some of the stories our reporters are working on today.
The biggest story in the province continues to be the B.C. teacher strike. Teachers will begin full-scale strike action on Tuesday but will be out of the classrooms on Monday to attend an all-day, off-site study session. Despite the withdrawal of services, exams ... Read More …

KAMLOOPS — The most interesting part of Monday morning’s training camp practice for the B.C. Lions may have been the long, sideline chat that occurred afterwards between player rep Paul McCallum and team president Dennis Skulsky. McCallum, alas, refused to divulge what was said.
We can guess.
The problem for Canadian Football League players over a tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement that heavily favours owners is the players distrust over what the league has told them ... Read More …

Rookie guard T-Dre Player is wearing No. 68 for the Lions. He’s been one of the standouts in the first week of training camp, says head coach Mike Benevides.
KAMLOOPS — T-Dre Player — the B.C. Lions’ first pick from the 2014 Canadian Football draft — is well-named. He is indeed a player.
“I do see some guys growing,” head coach Mike Benevides said Thursday. “Is T-Dre going to grow enough to be a ... Read More …

Apparently a CFL training camp isn’t just about two-a-day practices and repeating smash-mouth drills. There’s also a fair bit of dancing.
Quarterback John Beck, a 32-year-old NFL vet who has had previous stops with the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens, is trying to catch on with the B.C. Lions’ as a third-string option behind starter Travis Lulay and backup Kevin Glenn.
Whether he still has the football skills to secure ... Read More …

Geroy Simon, the Canadian Football League’s all-time leader in catches and yards, officially retired from football today.
He finished his hall-of-fame calibre career as a Saskatchewan Roughrider, but Simon’s glory days were with the B.C. Lions where he played 12 of his 15 seasons, won two Grey Cups (2011, 2006), was named league’s most outstanding player (2006) and was a six-time CFL all-star.
In all, Simon hauled in a record 1,029 passes. In 2011, ... Read More …

With players and owners fighting about how they are going to divide their TSN windfall (the league signed five-year deal with the broadcaster, reportedly worth $42 million per season), there is a good chance a labour stoppage could delay the start of CFL season.
But until pickets go up or the practice facilities get locked down, it will remain business as usual at the B.C. Lions’ training camp in Kamloops.
Vancouver Sun reporter Mike ... Read More …

Good morning from the Vancouver Sun newsroom. Here are some stories our reporters are working on today.
In News,
As the teachers’ contract dispute with the B.C. governments continues to drag on with more rotating walkouts planned this week, there is hope that a deal could be on the horizon. BCTF vice president Glen Hansman told the B.C. PAC on the weekend that the union and government are not that far apart on salary and ... Read More …

A Sunday morning winter storm that made driving tricky, running slushy and motivation to leave the comforts of home extra challenging, failed to stop a former Olympian from bringing a Brazilian flavour to snow-covered Langley.
Bubbly Lynn Kanauka, a super-fit woman who makes the EnergizerBunny seem like a total slacker, put our smaller-than-usual Sun Run training group through an all-weather exercise program that featured a wild blend of samba-square-chicken dancing, deep bending, lunging, bum ... Read More …

Six B.C. Lions have been named to the Canadian Football League’s West Division All-Star team.
The defensive unit has a decidedly orange hue with five members from the Lions – linebackers Adam Bighill and Solomon Elimimian along with defensive backs Dante Marsh, Ryan Philips and Cord Parks – named to the team.
The lone Lion on the offensive side of the ball is Jovan Olafioye, the reigning CFL Most Outstanding Lineman, who makes his fourth ... Read More …

Sun football writer Mike Beamish offers up his final weekend picks and powers in the Canadian Football League:
• THURSDAY:
Hamilton at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, TSN
A current Toronto Star series is examining why Toronto is the Cleveland of Canada, a city known for perennial losers in pro sports. It looks into what has gone wrong with the Leafs, Blue Jays, Raptors and Toronto FC, but there’s nary a word on the Argos, ... Read More …